Court Sides with Family After Mother’s Nursing Home Death

Allenbrooke Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Memphis has just been ordered by a jury to pay over $30 million in damages to the family of an 82-year-old woman who died in their care in 2009. Martha Jane Pierce’s family placed her in Allenbrooke because she had worsening dementia and could no longer be safely cared for at home. But once at Allenbrooke, Pierce started exhibiting signs of neglect. She was malnourished and dehydrated, resulting in hospital stays, and she developed severe pressure sores that went so deep and became so infected that her leg had to be amputated.

A year after her untimely death, Pierce’s family decided to sue Allenbrooke, its parent company, and some of its executives. Finally, the case was settled two weeks ago when the jury ruled in favor of the Pierces. Evidence presented during the trial suggests that the problems at Allenbrooke were largely due to understaffing, a fact that the home attempted to hide by having people document care that never happened. This is nursing home abuse. The Pierces hope that because of this verdict, Allenbrooke will be forced to reevaluate and change the way they operate to prevent nursing home wrongful death.

Allenbrooke’s attorneys, however, intend to challenge the verdict, saying that the staff was not negligent and that the amount awarded is excessive.